Fast, Small, And Complete? Samsung's $329 Chromebox

[acku]

Would you believe that there's a Celeron-powered nettop that sells for $329, including all of the software you need? Samsung's Chromebox gives the small form factor market something to think about with its slim profile and pre-installed Google Chrome OS.

Fast, Small, And Complete? Samsung's $329 Chromebox : Read more

 

[ikyung]

Seems like these boxes will fill the niche computer users who wants small form factors to carry around, etc. But, seems like they can add in USB/HDMI connectors into smartphones and turn it into a full fledge computers one day in the future.

 

[boletus]

How can this possibly compete with a $400 laptop, which includes a screen, keyboard, at least a 320 GB hardrive, Windows, and sound? Yeah you have to get a word processor program etc, but there are free options for that. And you can use it on the bus, and hook up external displays, and read/burn DVD's,.... I've seen AMD A8 series laptops for $450, and they can even play real games. How is this worth its price? Am I missing something?

 

[Guest]

"sudo (a program enabling the installation of any generic Linux application)" please do some basic research before writing such nonsense.
For example the first line on Wikipedia states:
sudo is a program for Unix-like computer operating systems that allows users to run programs with the security privileges of another user (normally the superuser, or root).[3] Its name is a concatenation of the su command (which grants the user a shell of another user, normally the superuser) and "do", or take action.

 

[rootheday]

The article says:
"But the Celeron can't accelerate video decoding, nor does it include Quick Sync support. "

This is a common misunderstanding - the Celeron and Pentium Sandybridge parts disable Quick Sync and some video post processing features (branded as ClearVideo HD) but the hardware accelerated decode is there across the board (Celeron/Pentium/Core)

 

[palladin9479]

On the other hand, many of us still prefer the perceived security and privacy of information stored in our own systems and backed up to drives where only we have access to them.

I take offense at this. "Cloud" storage of data is by definition less secure then local storage. Security is done in multiple layers, physical security is one of those layers, arguable the most important. Giving your data to someone else to store is dangerous unless your ~really~ know that person, giving your data to an unknown person via a third party profit orientated entity is extremely dangerous without a legal team in place to secure your best interests.

It's not just "perceived", it's real and tangible. Now we're talking about an online media player / browsing device, very small change of you storing anything personal on it. Anything you do store in "the cloud" will be analyzed by someone "not you". Just hope it doesn't try to store browsing history or media history on "the cloud".

 

[Onus]

^Exactly. I can't take this device seriously. We need to ignore third parties with their own interests in mind urging use to "use the Cloud!" no matter how easy it seems.
That "perceived security" comment was pretty darned offensive...

 

[johnners2981]

[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]^Exactly. I can't take this device seriously. We need to ignore third parties with their own interests in mind urging use to "use the Cloud!" no matter how easy it seems.That "perceived security" comment was pretty darned offensive...[/citation]

Here, have a tissue...

 

[belardo]

Its a cute little box, but even I don't understand its pricing. For a client, this is what I picked up at a local store for $350 (on sale):
Lenovo G-Series (bottom end) i3-2x00 notebook with 4GB RAM / Windows 7 64bit / 320GB HD / 15" screen. Very little junkware.

At Costco: $430
HP Desktop with AMD A6 (bottom end quad core) with 4GB RAM / Win7 64bit / 500GB HD / 23" LCD display, crappy mouse and keyboard. The desktop is of course slower on CPU but faster on GPU.

Its great that we have ChromOS hardware coming out... but it should be $25~50 cheaper than a Windows 7 on software alone.

With Windows8 coming out soon, this is a good time to have alternatives available. Would like to see a bigger push with Linux somehow.

 

[lamorpa]

[citation][nom]palladin9479[/nom]..."Cloud" storage of data is by definition less secure then local storage.
[/citation]
Then local storage what? If "Cloud" storage of data is by definition less secure, then local storage can be used? (then/than - different words, different meanings, different uses)

 

[JeanLuc]

I'm trying to workout why Google went with an Intel hardware setup when an ARM based SOC would have more then surficied for the purposes for which this sort of device caters for. Less power, less heat and most likely a whole lot cheaper.

 

[belardo]

Or AMD A-series of CPUs (Llano / Trinity) which would be cheaper, less power, a tad more horse power and far more GPU abilities.

 

[Guest]

WOW, it looks exactly like the Mac Mini. I am sure if you look hard enough, you can still see the Apple logo underneath the new paint job.

This is pathetic and shameless copying. I cannot wait until Apple wins big, and Samsung finally has to come up with its own ideas again, so we can get revolutionary devices like the F700, LOL!

 

[hate machine]

[citation][nom]MacMiniDesignbySamsung[/nom]WOW, it looks exactly like the Mac Mini. I am sure if you look hard enough, you can still see the Apple logo underneath the new paint job.This is pathetic and shameless copying. I cannot wait until Apple wins big, and Samsung finally has to come up with its own ideas again, so we can get revolutionary devices like the F700, LOL![/citation]


You obviously haven't upgraded to the new iEyes 4GS as it seems you are still running iRetina 4.3.1 and cannot upgrade. Come back when you aren't "looking at it wrong".

 

[jerm1027]

What an over-glorified, over-priced linux box. I'll stick with Ubuntu + Ubuntu One. Oh wait... *Turns on Acer Aspire One 722*

 

[jaquith]

Whoever picked those I/O options was -- WRONG! They should have added an HDMI port and a Sound Out @ I/O. So in most cases you'll need an adapter not to mention the PITA to output audio in many instances. And what's with that single front Audio/Mic jack?! Huh -- 16 GB SSD. Hell I'm almost better off using my Android phone which has a lot more storage.

I like the price but that's about it.

My picks (minimum I/O):
Front: 2x3mm Headset & Mic and 1~2 USB or (Media Reader + 1 USB ports)
Rear: 3mm Sound out, HDMI, DVI, (DisplayPort), 10/100/1000 NIC, USB 3.0 ports or (eSATA), Power In, and Lock.

 

[loops]

I am not sure if they are picking up on a price point. $200.00 seems like the magic number to a lot of ppl. The Fire and Google's tablet are about that price. For a unit this like this to sell it needs to be at or below 200 bucks. Otherwise you start thinking about a notebook.

.02

 

[Wisecracker]

I suspect "de-emphasizing the importance of graphics resources" is probably not the best way to win hearts and minds, but yah never know what the Googs is really up to ...

This is where (short-term, anyway) AMD canceling the *28nm* bulk Zacate might sting a bit, but the 40nm Brazos2 likely takes it to the B840 Celly graphics, anyway.

And for 200 bucks a Zoltac Nano E-350 nettop with OpenELEC/XBMC/Ubuntu you can run your own cloud - LOL

 

[mcleodglen]

Well, One of two parts that fit and complete each other.

 

[pedro_mann]

What? A non Microsoft platform? Looks like the competition is already poised to embrace all the Windows 8 MS defectors. We welcome you our Linux overlords. All our PC's are belong to you.

 

[mcd023]

I'm assuming that it does 1080p just fine?

 

[palladin9479]

I'm assuming that it does 1080p just fine?

1080p ~what~ exactly?

Not knocking you but people have a tendency to throw things out without first considering their question.

If the video unit is capable of generating a display of 1920x1080@60hz then it's "1080p" by PC standards. If your talking video, what codec's and video source are being used? There is no BD drive so your not playing Blu-Rays, and it has a 16GB hard disk so your not playing media from the local storage. You could be streaming compressed 1080p24 content over a local network, depending on compression levels and which codecs were used is how much work the CPU will have to do to decode it. The i3 should have no issue decoding typical x264 encoded videos.

1080p is both a set of resolutions and a video standard, gotta be a bit more specific.

 

[nforce4max]

Who needs cloud when accounts are easily broken into considering that even an 80 year old could more than likely outsmart customer support these days. I don't like cloud for many reasons, not everyone has a decent or better connection that allows for online storage to perform well, internet service in some areas is limited or not available at all while satellite is very expensive, and the entire concept goes against what many have been raised up with. Moving beyond data I wouldn't want all or most of my apps stored on cloud but they are pushing for it even though they are being the owners of cloud services and providers are not the best examples of humanity there is in the world.

Sadly in this world money speaks louder than everything else combined short of war and the money is being put into cloud so it is only a matter of time before people get to where they won't have much of a choice.

 

[palladin9479]

Who needs cloud when accounts are easily broken into considering that even an 80 year old could more than likely outsmart customer support these days. I don't like cloud for many reasons, not everyone has a decent or better connection that allows for online storage to perform well, internet service in some areas is limited or not available at all while satellite is very expensive, and the entire concept goes against what many have been raised up with. Moving beyond data I wouldn't want all or most of my apps stored on cloud but they are pushing for it even though they are being the owners of cloud services and providers are not the best examples of humanity there is in the world.

Sadly in this world money speaks louder than everything else combined short of war and the money is being put into cloud so it is only a matter of time before people get to where they won't have much of a choice.

That's the really messed up part. Absolutely nothing about "cloud computing" is new. We've been doing this for over a decade now, just using different names. "Store data in the cloud" is just offsite data storage, something every IT expert knows about. "Cloud based collaborative communication" is just webapps doing chat, email and teleconferencing, again something that's been going on for nigh a decade now. "Cloud software" is again just webapps, either JScript, JAVA, PHP or some other web based programming language. Nothing new about any of it.

"Cloud computing" is just another word for IT outsourcing without the evil stigma attached to it. It's moving your exchange system to an outside provider so you can fire your exchange guys. It's moving your data retention system to an outside provider so you don't have to hire people to manage DFS and file / backup servers. Moves most or all of your services to an outside provider in India so that you don't have to pay for expensive system engineers and administrators to maintain it yourself. And just like moving customer service to India and manufacturing to China, it will have some severe side effects that won't be mentioned. Namely data integrity / security and availability. Just ask the question "who exactly, by name, has access to my internal corporate financial reports?", "who exactly, by name, has access to my next generation product designs and business plans?", if someone can't provide you with a legally binding answer within 30m then you shouldn't be trusting your data with them. The next question should be "what background checks and screening has been done on these individuals, can you verify their trustworthiness and what level of security liability do they represent?", and again if they can't provide you with a legally binding answer in 30m or less then you shouldn't be keeping your data with them.

 

[egmccann]

Are you comfortable with your data living somewhere other than your own machine? Increasingly, the idea of cloud-based storage is being embraced by folks who see its merits. On the other hand, many of us still prefer the perceived security and privacy of information stored in our own systems and backed up to drives where only we have access to them. It's another philosophical issue you'll need to sort through on your own.

My issue with cloud-based blah blah blah has absolutely nothing to do with security and privacy. See, I'm in FL. We have storms. The internet gets knocked out. Internet getting knocked out = Chromebook is a fancy paperweight. Much like one of the reasons Diablo III is uninstalled and forgotten - 'net gets knocked out, I'm bored, want to play... wait, I can't. Hello, something that runs locally instead.

And I do have to agree about the price point as well. When I can walk through Wal-mart (not exactly a hard to find, exclusive venue) and see $450 notebooks - with screen, local storage, keyboard, etc - I just can't see buying this sort of device. $100-$150, maybe. (Though, for me, I'd still be going "so why don't I just access google docs on said notebook?")